Bears Have the Best Pass Catcher in the NFL (not B. Marshall)

This is pretty darned interesting.

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The Chicago Bears Have the Best Pass Catcher in the NFL – and It’s Not Brandon Marshall


The Chicago Bears have the best pass catcher in the NFL, and it’s not who you might think it is. No, it’s not Brandon Marshall, which is the first name that would pop into your mind. It’s Earl Bennett, the most sure-handed wide receiver in the NFL. I’m not just pulling this out of thin air, the guys at Pro Football Focus conducted a study of drop rate over the last three years and Bennett bested such big names as Larry Fitzgerald (2), Reggie Wayne (6) and Anquan Boldin (13). To view the complete list, go here.


Bennett had just 4 drops out of 127 “catchable” balls for a drop rate of just 3.15%. Larry Fitzgerald had 9 drops in more than double the number of chances (275 catchable balls) for a drop rate of 3.27%. That’s pretty damned impressive. And in case you were wondering, the guys at PFF define what is considered catchable.


What comes as a surprise is that the Bears’ top offseason acquisition Brandon Marshall shows up in the team photo for the most drops and worst drop percentage. Marshall was third in the league over the last 3 years with 419 targets, just behind Wes Welker and Roddy White. 303 of the 419 balls going his way were deemed catchable. Marshall actually had the most drops in the NFL in that span with 35, but when you calculate the drop rate as a percentage of the total catchable balls, Marshall dropped 11.6% of his catchable targets. That ranks him as the tenth worst in the league.


Here’s the full list including king of the drops Roy Williams (yes, our Roy Williams from 2011 with 14.6%):

Rank Player Current Team Drops Catchable Drop Rate 1 Roy E. Williams FA 19 130 14.62% 2 James Jones GB 20 139 14.39% 3 Mike A. Williams TB 20 149 13.42% 4 DeSean Jackson PHI 25 193 12.95% 5 Brandon Gibson SL 18 141 12.77% 6 Terrell Owens FA 18 145 12.41% 7 Donald Driver GB 22 179 12.29% 8 Randy Moss SF 15 126 11.90% 9 Dwayne Bowe KC 26 225 11.56% 10 Brandon Marshall CHI 35 303 11.55% 11 Michael Crabtree SF 22 195 11.28% 12 Mario Manningham SF 19 174 10.92% 13 Pierre Garcon WAS 22 206 10.68% 14 Santana Moss WAS 24 233 10.30% 15 Devin Hester CHI 14 136 10.29%

It’s also interesting and should come as no surprise that Devin Hester made the Top 15 with 14 drops in 136 catchable attempts in the last three years. Jay told you he wasn’t a “go up and get it guy.” So for all the preseason hype and love that Marshall and Hester are getting, watch out for Earl Bennett, who stands to benefit most by the addition of Marshall and could have a breakout season.

BEAR DOWN!!!

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Drop Rate – The Best
To the best, and up at the top there’s a name that won’t surprise many Bears fans but may surprise many others. Earl Bennett, with just four drops from 127 catchable balls, has the lowest drop percentage of just 3.15%. That wasn’t much better than the ever-excellent Larry Fitzgerald who continues to show remarkable consistency with his hands, dropping an average of three balls each season and just 3.27% of catchable balls. Behind him are less-heralded players like Kevin Walter and Lance Moore, while San Diego fans will be happy to see Malcom Floyd with the fifth-lowest drop percentage, and new signing Robert Meachem down in 11th.

Rank	Player	Current Team	Drops	Catchable	Drop Rate
1	Earl Bennett	CHI	4	127	3.15%
2	Larry Fitzgerald	ARZ	9	275	3.27%
3	Kevin Walter	HST	5	148	3.38%
4	Lance Moore	NO	5	136	3.68%
5	Malcom Floyd	SD	6	131	4.58%
6	Reggie Wayne	IND	14	300	4.67%
7	Jabar Gaffney	NE	10	197	5.08%
8	Jason Avant	PHI	8	152	5.26%
9	Austin Collie	IND	10	182	5.49%
10	Sidney Rice	SEA	8	141	5.67%
11	Robert Meachem	SD	8	137	5.84%
12	Michael Jenkins	MIN	8	136	5.88%
13	Anquan Boldin	BLT	13	219	5.94%
14	Mike Thomas	JAX	10	167	5.99%
15	Deion Branch	NE	10	165	6.06%

Catching the ball isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to receiving. You need to be able to get open and make things happen after the catch. But, fundamentally, if you don’t secure the ball then your route running is wasted, and you don’t even get a chance to find your way for extra yardage. So the Drop Rate is an extremely useful tool in terms of determining which players have the best hands (though it should be noted not all drops are created equal).


Stay tuned tomorrow when we run down the tight ends to see which at that position have the best and worst hands.

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Dropping the Ball



It won’t be a surprise that those with more opportunity have tended to drop the most balls. Indeed, if you look at Wes Welker, his 32 drops were second in the league over three years. The only wide receiver with more than him? New Bears receiver Brandon Marshall who led the way with 35 drops over three years. Chicago will be hoping that linking up with Jay Cutler will help calm this number down, but it’s worth noting that if you go back to 2008 Marshall had 16 drops in that year alone. Other numbers that stand out are the 26 for Chiefs franchise player Dwayne Bowe and the 22 picked up by Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree, and Donald Driver. All three head into 2012 with various questions (can they step up as a No. 1 receiver?/how much have they got left?) and they’ll be looking to cut back on the drops that have plagued them at times.

Rank	Player	Current Team	Drops
1	Brandon Marshall	CHI	35
2	Wes Welker	NE	32
3	Roddy White	ATL	30
4	Dwayne Bowe	KC	26
5	DeSean Jackson	PHI	25
6	Santana Moss	WAS	24
7	Pierre Garcon	WAS	22
7	Michael Crabtree	SF	22
7	Donald Driver	GB	22
10	Nate Burleson	DET	21

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Always advocated bennett as our best WR (as opposed to DB54 who seemed to think Johnny Knox or Devin Hester was, depending on the article he posted), good to see it's partially proven true. Really think those drops will slow down with Cutler throwing to him(Marshall), and having more weapons on the field this year...

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Originally Posted by Henry Burris

Always advocated bennett as our best WR (as opposed to DB54 who seemed to think Johnny Knox or Devin Hester was, depending on the article he posted), good to see it's partially proven true. Really think those drops will slow down with Cutler throwing to him(Marshall), and having more weapons on the field this year...

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I agree with all of that.

So do I. In fact, I felt Bennett was the most solid draft pick Angelo ever made.

I guess I haven't been on this board long enough to know there was ever a debate as to Bennett being our best receiver. I thought he was head and shoulders above any receiver we had. Hopefully Marshall and Jeffrey will be even better, but Bennett is a really good WR. I never felt he was a real #1, but he is very good. His leading the percentage of dropped catchable balls elevates him even more in my book. With others being double-teamed this year, I am really looking forward to seeing what his production will be.

Bennett is still the #1 receiver until proven otherwise.

Matt Forte is our #1 wr.

"Oh but Nerrad, Bennett will be a bum. Go away."

Hmmmm....